Why Thais keep dogs.
All my neighbours have dogs. Fon has five.
Generally, Thais won’t neuter their pets.
https://www.mattowensrees.com/2025/11/03/why-veterinary-surgeons-face-problems
A government initiative, in collaboration with European veterinary surgeons, has not been as successful as was hoped.
UK vets get disillusioned with the slow spaying and castrating speed of local vets. They begin to get bored and lose interest in helping in a voluntary capacity in a cultural climate that does not believe in sterilisation.
Why Thais keep dogs
Dogs are principally kept to guard property. Usually chained during the day or kept in cages, they are released at night to roam freely in the compound as a deterrent against the kamoey, the petty thieves that one finds in every community.
There is no redress on the owner if a dog bites or injures a thief or indeed anyone else on your own property.
If you are attacked on the road it may be difficult to prove who the dogs’ owners are and more difficult still to get any compensation for hospital costs.
Dogs running in packs may well be feral and rabid. They scrounge for food from neighbours and the monks at the temples.
Ordinary folk may shoo them away but the monks will feed them.
You’ll see many dogs at the temples (wats). They are discouraged, though not forced, from going inside temple buildings. But, they are free to go anywhere else in the temple grounds.
Theoretically, Buddhists will not kill or harm any animal. That also explains the reluctance to sterilise.
I bought an ornamental fountain from my neighbour, Geng. He came over to check where I wanted it positioned.
He was petrified of one of my dogs, Nam Som. She has a loud bark and is wary of those she does not know well but she is not dangerous and would not bite anyone.
Geng should have ignored her instead of showing he was scared.
Once an animal senses someone is afraid, it has the upper hand and Nam Som would not stop barking at him. Her instinct told her that he was afraid. Apparently it’s called operant conditioning. Not many people know that! (Apologies for using a Michael Caine catchphrase)
Not all Thais are animal lovers
Someone has been placing poisoned dog biscuits around the grounds of the local wat. A few stray dogs have died. The monks would have had nothing to do with it. They do not accept the taking of any life.
Sad about the dogs, but Thais do often take matters into their own hands. Rather than talk through any trouble they may have with the owners or those who care for the dogs.
Maybe it will change but it has been going on for centuries. Perhaps Thais are resigned to accept the way problems are dealt with here.
Although most Thais won’t harm dogs, there is a minority that will kill the animal if it is misbehaving or no longer wanted. I recall hearing gun shots on one occasion and, looking down the soi, saw a man dragging away a dog by its hind legs.
Where he took it I do not know and the next morning everyone denied a dog had been killed.
There was a disturbing incident last night. At a party, some men were taking turns in poking long sticks at a dog being held in a cage.
One of the older My Life in 3 Years Time ladies called the local police. They couldn’t do anything because one of the officers recognised one of the men as a colleague of his. He worked in the same police station.
A fine example of top dog agility training and performance
Watch the video below to see how long training in dog agility pays off in competitions.
There are 3 steps to follow if you want your dog to excel in agility:
1. Firstly, Concentrate on getting your dog fully obedient, obeying your. every command.
When I ran a local training class in Essex, we preceded each agility class with a 10-minnute obedience session. Waking to heel and making swift about-turns, changing pace to very slow to running fast.
Trying to catch the dog out but always ensuring he was enjoying the exercise and being rewarded and praised. Putting your dog in a long down stay and walking out of sight. A good test of how a dog is obedient.
I recall waking our dogs in Epping Forest in London and spotting a small fire. We put our two dogs in a down stay and ran to a telephone box to ring the Fire Brigade. After a minute or so, we heard the fire engines sirens blaring. Realising we’d left our dogs, we hurried back to where we’d put them in a down stay.
The hadn’t moved. When you get to that level of obedience, you’re ready for agility training.
2. Concentrate on getting your dog to tackle each obstacle properly without making any faults. On the see-saw and A-frame, for example, ensure your dog’s paw touches the yellow-painted entry and exit points of the equipment. Don’t go for speed at this stage, go for accuracy.
A useful tip for navigating the weave poles is to move your body into the weave pole that’s immediately after where the dog must enter to encourage him to move in, and move your body away slightly when he exits. Do the same for he next weave pole. It takes some practice to get right. I found it most difficult when I started agility.
3. Gradually, start increasing the speed your dog goes round the circuit.
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